Today, Amazon is releasing kindle.app on the iPhone. You no longer need to buy a $359 product from them to use the Kindle book, magazine and newspaper purchasing/downloading/reading application. Great news for consumers. Probably not great news for Kindle hardware sales.

Actually, the Kindle’s large, grayscale e-ink screen and the iPhone’s smaller, traditional color display are much different animals and will attract a different audience. Also, the hardcore book reader will appreciate the Kindle 2’s big navigation buttons and dictionary/search funtionality which isn’t yet on the iPhone version.

Plus we have a feeling they are going to get a few book/magazine/newspaper sales with this one.

Kindle for iPhone allows Apple iPhone and iPod touch owners to read Kindle books using a simple, easy-to-use interface. You can shop for hundreds of thousands of books at www.amazon.com/kindlestore, and wirelessly transfer the books to your iPhone or iPod touch. Enjoy Amazon’s low prices on Kindle books, including New York Times Best Sellers and most new releases for $9.99, unless marked otherwise.

With Kindle for iPhone, you can:
* Buy a Kindle book from your Mac, PC, or iPhone using a Web browser and wirelessly transfer the books to your iPhone
* Read first chapters of any book for free before you buy
* Download the Kindle books you already own for free — they are automatically backed up on Amazon.com
* Adjust the text size, add bookmarks, and view the annotations you created on your Kindle device

Kindle for iPhone also includes Whispersync, which allows you to seamlessly switch back and forth between your Kindle device and Kindle for iPhone while keeping your bookmarks and reading location synchronized between devices. Now you can easily pick up reading right where you left off on your Kindle or iPhone.

Books you purchase can also be read on Kindle and Kindle 2, Amazon’s portable readers that wirelessly download books, newspapers, magazines, and blogs to a crisp, high-resolution 6-inch electronic-paper display that looks and reads like real paper.